Strategic site along San Francisco Bay could alleviate transportation, housing crisis

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FILE PHOTO–The Cargill Saltworks site in Redwood City, Calif., is photographed on Thursday, Feb. 25, 2010. Developer DMB Associates is proposing to build up to 12,000 homes on the site. Water for the development would be supplied from Kern County via the Delta. Organizations such as Save the Bay are against any development of the land. (Dan Honda/Staff)

“Come let us reason together.” In my faith tradition, this is one of my favorite passages. It underscores that civic dialogue is essential in solving complex problems and exploring important opportunities.

Residents across the Bay Area are feeling the pinch of the many generational challenges currently afflicting our region. Every day, we manage an affordability crisis, lengthy commutes with severe traffic, unconnected transit systems, and scarce public open space. At the Silicon Valley Leadership Group, we work day in and day out to advocate for effective solutions to these complex problems, and are proud of our successes thus far. However, there is more work to be done, and no potential solution can be left off the table.

Recently, the city of Redwood City was provided with a golden opportunity to help address these challenges. After years of federal ambiguity, development oversight for a two-square-mile industrial property, called Redwood City Saltworks, was delivered to Redwood City. As a result, an important opportunity exists for elected leaders, housing advocates, environmentalists and employers; from Gov. Gavin Newsom down to regional and local government, to work together to determine how best to utilize one of the most strategically significant pieces of existing private property along our beloved San Francisco Bay.

For decades, the Saltworks site has been mired in controversy. Even today, some individuals have called for the owner to immediately donate the land, without considering the enormous opportunity at their fingertips to facilitate a project that could deliver so many solutions funded by private dollars.

Congestion and traffic have increased in San Mateo County more than 80 percent since 2010. There is the potential to unlock key transit pathways on the Saltworks site to alleviate pressure on Highway 101 and facilitate meaningful ferry service to job centers across the Bay Area. Redwood City Saltworks includes the largest stretch of shoreline in the entirety of San Mateo County, but is currently barred to the public by a chain link fence. There is the potential to open up the Bay Trail, facilitating waterfront activation, local flood control, and construction of hundreds of acres of public open space for local residents.

Climate change and sea level rise are slated to have catastrophic consequences for the Bay Area. We need to take drastic measures to safeguard our communities. The site has unparalleled potential to deliver the levies, facilities, and marshland to provide long-term protection to sea-level rise. This can and should be a part of a project proposal down the line.

Finally, for years as our economy has boomed, city governments have favored the production of office space over housing, which has spurned a severe affordability crisis that threatens to push out the workers and residents that make up the fabric of our shared community. Saltworks presents the opportunity to build infill, transit-served housing with affordable units available to the people who need homes the most.

Redwood City Saltworks landowners have committed to engaging the public in an open process to shape a project that reflects our values. The Silicon Valley Leadership Group looks forward to being part of a plan that respects the environment, recreation needs and overall quality of life. With such magnitude, any solution will create hundreds of acres of open space, public wetlands, and access to what currently sits behind a fence. Our current and future residents deserve nothing less. We have the opportunity to make improvements so generations of families and workers in the region can benefit. Shaping Redwood City Saltworks’ future is absolutely a discussion worth having.

Carl Guardino is president and CEO of the Silicon Valley Leadership Group.

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